The Opelousas courier., 1887-03-19
A CITY HOSPITAL.
Where PatientsaPe Treated for
Delirium Tremens.
Well Educated Men Who Have Become
Victims to a Passion for Drink.

Visitors to a well-known New York
hospital up town frequently express
astonishment at the appearance and
character of the inmates of one emu OF
the building. 1t is furnished, says Amos
J. Cummings in the EMAIL and Express"
much like q frst-class club house. There
are billiard and chess-rooms, smoking
apartments, elegant parlors and a choice
library. The rooms face to the south
and are inundated with a flood OF cheer
full sunlight every pleasant morning. The
latest newspapers and the freshest maya
zines are always to be found on the CEN
ire tables. Above this suite of rooms
are bedrooms with iron-barrcd windows.
Each apartment is heated by
steam, and plainly furnished.
There are no carpets on the floor
The window curtains and the cloth
ing on the iron bedsteads are as white as
snow, and the brass knobs surmounting
the foot and head boards are polished
until they shine like gold. White cap
ped nurses fit through the corridors like
ghosts, and occasionally appalling cries
are heard from darkened rooms at the
east of the edifce. Convalescents are to
be seen in the parlors below. Nearly all
are men of dignified appearance. Many
are grey-headed, and all are w~ell-dress-
ed. Most of them wear dressing-gowns
and slippers. All are we'll educated, and
converse with readiness on the most in
teresting topics of the day. You will
find among them a w%ell-known hotel
proprietor, several brokers and real estate
dealers, one or two journalists, a few
lawyers of superior intellects, including
one of unrivalled brilliancy as an advo-
cate, half a dozen politicians, and a
Congregational clergyman unstained
with heterodoxy. They are a remarka-
BILE group. All seem to have gone
through the furnace of intense suf-
fering. Their lips are dry and are
frequently moistened by the action of
the tongue. Their faces are bleached
and blanched. Subdued nervousness is
apparent in their eyes, and in their man.
ner and bearing. They are courtly and
polite i'll intercourse, but it is the court
and politeness of a party of
French mobiles who cannot shake of mem
cries of the Reign of Terror. On the
surface all is suavity and amenity, but
beneath it there is a strong undertow of
reserve. They smile at each jeu de mot
and each jeu d'esprit, but very rarely
outright, and they never slap each
other on the knee in the intensity of
their enjoyment. At times YOU see them
furtively watching each other, as though
in the depths of mental speculation.
Anon they herd together like sheep in a
panic. Some sit at tables reading or
with spasmodic energy, and
others play billiards. A few are trying
work out abstruse problems at
chess. All appear to be men of
aimlessly busy and ner-
7ous as to their future. Care is
written OF their features, and each man
to be cankercd at the heart.
You my fancy this institution either
\ lunatic asylum or a home for inebri
ties. It is nothing of the kind. 1t is
a ward III the best hospital in
New York city, devoted to the cure of
men who are suffering from delirium ,
and mania a potu. They pay
orty dollars a week entrance fee and
hirty dollars a week when convalescine.
receive the best of care and medi- {
al treatment. Like old hulks and re-
claimed wrecks, they are thoroughly fu-
calked anew, repainted and re-
.tted, and again made ready for the sea !
f life. Many are thrown ON their beam
nds in the first gale that follows and are
promptly returned to this dockyard of :
humanity. Others are swamped outright n
a typhoons of dissipation and never
gain see the reftting station. Its ply
icians and nurses, however, are ever
usy, day and night, Strengthening frail
RATS, bracing them at weak points and